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GFS racquetmen break for holidays at 3-0

Senior David Sneed performed in the number one spot for the GFS squash team last Tuesday. (Photo by Tom Utescher)

by Tom Utescher

The Germantown Friends Schools boys were able to capture victories in all three of their matches in the 2012 segment of the season, including wins over the other two members of the Friends Schools League who play the sport.

After wresting a non-league road match from host Lawrenceville School, 5-4, on December 6, the Tigers blanked visiting Shipley, 9-0, five days later. Last Tuesday GFS pulled off another FSL sweep, cruising past Friends Central, who started its squash program just a year ago. Although the win at Lawrenceville came by the narrowest margin of the three matches, it was the most impressive achievement, coming against a Big Red program that is long-established and very well funded.

Senior number one Max McCafferty won his bout 3-1, and in a key match, fellow upperclassman Sam York ground out a 3-2 victory in the five spot.

After rolling past Shipley, the Tigers hosted another Friends League school at their home digs at the Germantown Cricket Club. Facing a recent start-up team in Friends Central, it was just as well that GFS was playing without its regular number one and two, McCafferty and his ninth-grade brother, Calvin. Both were up at Harvard University competing in the 2012 U.S. Junior Open Tournament.

For Tuesday’s home match, all of the other Tigers bumped up two rungs on the team ladder, so senior David Sneed ascended to the top spot, where he breezed by Jeremy Siegel of the Phoenix the straight games, 11-3, 11-2, 11-3. Sneed is the only one of the four Germantown seniors who has finalized his college plans, selecting Wesleyan University.

Due to a shortage of personnel, Friends Central had three different players engaging in two matches apiece. Before facing Sneed, Siegel bowed to the Tigers’ sophomore number two, Ben Caraballo, 11-3, 11-3, 11-0. The visitors’ Drew Winig played at number three, where he lost to sophomore Anand Butler (Satya’s brother), 11-2, 11-1, 11-4, and at number four, where he fell victim to York, 11-2, 11-2, 11-0.

FC’s Jason Brill did double duty in the fifth and sixth matches, where his victorious opponents were Wallace (who won 1, 1, 3) and Sanz (2, 0, 3). At number seven, Satya Butler overcame Alec Shimell (2, 3, 3), and Tigers freshman Silas Shah prevailed in the eighth spot (1, 2, 5) over visitor Will Ayres. Rounding it out for GFS was sophomore Matt O’Connor, who won his number nine match against Bill Koutcher of the Phoenix (6, 3, 0).